The Milan Briefcase by Graham Fulbright

Author:Graham Fulbright
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd
Published: 2016-12-13T00:00:00+00:00

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But equally well in a world where the dividing line between fact and fiction is so thin as to make little or no difference, Arnold could have driven into town and taken the short walk from the Azaleengarten parking lot to the boarded up Kinothek premises used temporarily by the CIA as a safe town house until such time as the building was pulled down to make room for yet another bank.

A long-established institution enjoying considerable popularity among Luritania’s film buffs for the emphasis it placed on vintage art house movies as opposed to mainstream blockbuster productions, the Kinothek not only devoted entire weeks to a specific director’s works but invited guest speakers from France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Great Britain to share and discuss with viewers their analyses of films from the monochrome era. But when the chief projectionist, a fifty-nine-year-old who had been with the Kinothek from the start, came down with lung cancer, the cause of which was traced to the use of asbestos in the building’s water pipes and flues, Luritania’s Ministry for Sustainable Development and Infrastructure ordered the premises’ closure, while the Ministry of Culture supported the Kinothek’s relocation.

Since the building was slated for demolition in the fairly distant future, the American Ambassador had struck a deal with Luritania’s Prime Minister in accordance with which his people could use the flat at the top of the building formerly occupied by the deceased projectionist as temporary safe house accommodation for limited-stay personnel.

As Arnold approached the front of the Kinothek, he saw from the posters on the hoarding outside that the last film to be shown there had been Michel Hazavanicius’s 2011 black and white silent film, The Artist. What comes around, goes around, he thought, letting himself into the side entrance with no giveaway glance over the shoulder and without waiting for the nearest passers-by to clear his path. Warren Stenning and Hugh Chamberlain might have been smuggled into the premises late at night, but there was no need for Arnold Palmer to act other than as if he had every right to be here.

The first thing to strike the cultural attaché whenever he set foot in the old cinema was the lack of air. On this occasion, the atmosphere felt mustier than usual. After making his way through the rear side corridor into the main entrance hall, he turned the lights on and took the carpeted steps leading up to the foyer and ticket office two at a time. The familiar Nosferatu poster greeted him at the top of the broad staircase, which would have done credit to a Busby Berkeley movie. Today, Arnold sensed an unhealthy kinship with the blood-lusting count played by an actor with that most appropriate of names, Max Schreck.

The corridors on both side of the ticket office led to an area taken up with exhibits of cinematography memorabilia, including a 1930’s dual format projector for 9.5 and 16 mm silent movies, a life-size cardboard cut-out of Alfred Hitchcock and a

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